Everyone has seen one of these two-sided pillow covers that present a mix of pantsu and oppai called “dakimakura” – the greatest jewel an otaku can own, yet also, the most misinterpreted in its offerings.

I wanted to write about a certain yandere dakimakura I recently acquired, yet this dakimakura is highly unusual amongst its class, and I realized to review it would give a highly misconstrued view of dakimakura for the many who don’t know what one is like to begin with. And besides, there already is for sure a definitely inaccurate assumption of what a dakimakura is like by those who don’t actually have one themselves, or perhaps were foolish or unfortunate enough to limit themselves to Chinese imitations or magazine extras.

Many people simply do not know what a “dakimakura” really is, even if they’ve read the definition on Wikipedia and think they’re experts.

A dakimakura is called by many names in English, with its translation twisting into either a “body pillow” or “hug pillow”, but despite being a pillow case, it’s not limited, nor necessary, to use it as such. Conveniently however, an authentic dakimakura from a licensed manufacturer almost strictly come at 160 CM in height, and only in rare cases, 150 CM, both of which hover around five feet. It’s a height not too tall, but neither too short, an ideal size that’s going to be slightly shorter than most otaku, perfect for a comfortable embrace.

But again, a dakimakura need not necessarily be hugged or slept with if not so desired – in fact, that’s actually a cringing thought, not because it’s creepy to sleep with a pillow of a fictional female, but who would want to wrinkle their expensive treasure by crushing it with their arms and defiling it with their sweat.

All but one of my dakimakura hang safely from my wall, and only because it’s a lesser magazine extra. This is of course a means of protecting them as they’re quite pricey, but also to fulfill another purpose. A real, authentic dakimakura is far more than the creep pillow they’re heavily misunderstood to be.

The epitome of fan admiration is a dakimakura, you can buy the Blu-ray, but you’re just buying a series you’ve already seen, with episodes readily available in many a location. Figures might exist, but what of them? They often just recreate existing illustrations in plastic, rarely to a satisfying degree, and even if they turn out high quality, it’s but a minuscule novelty in the end. A dakimakura is different from any other piece of merchandise.

Dakimakura always, without exception and even the worst of them, feature original artwork. Completely original character artwork, an expression of that anime girl you love in a fashion that you literally won’t find anywhere else – not in the series, not on a figure, not in any magazine art, nowhere. This is also one point behind their costliness, a typical top quality dakimakura going for around 12,000 JPY at pre-order price, and it’s well-worth it.

Below is an example out of my collection, my most beloved of them all, Yurippe:

A Venus de Milo of dakimakura.

She’s a gorgeous bishoujo, the very definition of the word, with physique of supermodel perfection – but the series never services her out, and neither have magazine artworks or other items and merchandise, and rightfully so. The sole article one will find Yurippe sharing her physical beauty is none other than this valuable dakimakura – making it one of a kind and extremely desirable.

This particular dakimakura was released by Chara-ani, a genuine manufacturer and distributor. That matters because with a genuine manufacturer, you get a product that lives up to the illustration it features. My Yurippe is crafted with flawless colors, hues precisely picked down to the pixel, with not the slightest percentage of miscoloration. The colors are also bold, and bewitchingly vivid – her hair is a lush, immense violet, skin tone ever so delicate as ever spec of shadow gradient is picked up, and even the surrounding background bedding feeling plush as well.

The dakimakura is made of two-way tricot, “two-way” meaning wrinkle-proof in two directions, enough to be effectively impervious to wrinkles. Most genuine dakimakura are made of two-way tricot, or slight variations of the material – the certain clocked-eyed yandere I’m hoping to review soon is made of an even more impressive four-way tricot, wrinkle proof in four whole directions, essentially wrinkle-proof. The exception to the tricot and two-way rule are the lesser magazine extra dakimakura, or obviously, the phonies, but we’ll get to those later.

Now, what is tricot exactly? It’s a very lush fabric, soft yet sleek. It’s a material commonly used also in bikinis and girl’s underwear as it’s resilient, yet sleek in texture, with a water resistance to it.

What you have in the end is a life-size embodiment of your admired 2-D lady exhibited in an intimate manner that few will likely ever see beside you, captured in the brilliance of 2-D style. The aesthetics are sustained, the illustration is alive with color, intricate and detailed in the line, shape, value, and other elements, on a fabric heavy, durable, and yet, delightfully smooth and silky. A dakimakura offers the opportunity to appreciate the girl in a way unlike any other – its a whole new experience to get to see her up-close, and examine every exquisite curve of her body.

I wouldn’t dare put this dakimakura around a pillow, because I want to sustain this impeccability for all eternity to adore. In the case of Yurippe, the fact one won’t find her sharing her physical beauty outside of this single dakimakura adds her majesty as a character and female alike – she sustains her classiness, yet still provides something to savor for those willing to spend. There are series out there that show everything, and then still offer an erotic dakimakura nonetheless, like Ebiten, but the series that save their service are making the most of it.

Arguably the finest scene from Ebiten.

There’s another Yurippe dakimakura I have, which we’ll be comparing this one to show the sheer difference in quality. This was a benefit included with Dengeki G’s Festival magazine volume 17. The artwork is original, but it’s only one-sided – my topless Yurippe comes still with a top on the reverse end, but this below rifle equipped Yurippe is stripped and left in a sticky predicament for good, which she actually doesn’t seem to mind.

A variety of impressive guns.

It’s certainly lovely and feels great, but this fabric is not two-way, you can see the wrinkles already in spite of this being fresh out the packing. It’s uncertain if this is even made from tricot, but more importantly, notice how the illustration itself is also nowhere near on par with the full-fledged dakimakura. This magazine extra has a simpler image, whilst the fully featured dakimakura clearly had an artist go all-out dedicated into illustrating a flawless pillow cover.

The colors also seem less precise, and everything is overall much less refined to such a degree, even if one were to own a magazine extra dakimakura like this, they very clearly would not get anywhere near the experience of a true dakimakura. If hoping to truly use a dakimakura as a pillow, one of these magazine extras make a great option as they’re cheap and more so expendable, but never will they compare with the real deal.

For there to be such a realm of difference between dakimakura, those who haven’t even one dakimakura surely have not the slightest idea on what they’re missing – and it goes without saying, sample images and photography are nowhere near telling of a product’s true qualities.

If one were sincerely in love with a certain anime girl, or guy even, they would do themselves no greater favor than purchasing the dakimakura and relishing a new side of the character they’ve never seen before.

50 Comments

Although it’s likely I still know nothing, reading this article, I think I got a little grasp of what makes a dakimakura such a special possession for any otaku out there. It’s not for a creepy purpose like society thinks, but to appreciate the 2-D female beauty in a state of exceptional beauty and erotic-ness.

Nonetheless, I still don’t likely understand, but I do feel quite Jelly to those who have one, but my circumstances don’t allow me to have one.

I have five dakis, four of them are magazin extras (the same naked Tenshi and Yurippe you have, a clothed Tenshi and a bride Feena) and a two side TTGL Yoko. But I love them all equally, although I would NEVER dare to sleep with them (Feena cost more than a GSC figure), instead I also hang them on my walls. It’s the only way to put them on display and not ruin them.

I would love to own one or at least see one upclose and personal, as they really do look impressive from what I’ve seen in pictures and youtube videos, though as long as I’m at my parents that won’t happen. Also I didn’t know there were such differences in quality between the top-tier stuff and low-quality ones.

I concur with Seven on this one. Unmistakably, if you want quality, you’ll have to dig a little deeper into your pocket, but even to that extent, I would only recommend getting an expensive, true to the word dakimakura if you intend to take up collecting, or even to adore that one waifu of yours.

For myself, the idea of putting a pillow within a dakimakura is an entertaining idea, but one that I’d never wish to do as that’s my personal preference. I purchased it at a convention merely because it was a stunning illustration that stood out to me, and I wanted to have at home to be able to marvel at in its full glory.

I can confirm though that with the dakimakura I own, while it’s not the most durable of materials, it certainly feels slightly velvety and somewhat unique, like a much more comfortable bed sheet. So if you intend to use buy a dakimakura to hug up to, it should serve that purpose very well.

Out of curiosity, Seven, but do you usually have your dakimakuras out on display all the time? The reason I wonder about that is I’m sure it’d be a glutton for collecting dust.

Unfortunately I can’t find an exact image, but it was a Hatsune Miku dakimakura that was fully-clothed, but yet presenting a very cute, inviting pose. I initially spotted a woman sitting in the entrance hallway hugging her purchased Rin x Len dakimakura, so I asked her about them.

In fact, I don’t believe I told you anything about my loot at all from then. I also picked up the Hatsune Miku Cheerful Ver. by Goodsmile, a petit Kyoko Sakura PVC figire and also other miscellaneous items such as wall scrolls and oppai mousemats. It proved overall to be a great haul.

Seeing is believing afterall, but as you said Seven – “What you have in the end is a life-size embodiment of your admired 2-D lady exhibited in an intimate manner that few will likely ever see beside you”

Speaking from experience from working at a shop that imports such items for sale, COSPA’s pillows are 150cm long, since their dakimakura covers are 150cm long. Chara-Ani’s are 160cm. From anecdotal evidence, COSPA releases the majority of dakimakura covers (approximately 2/3s), and they are currently still reproducing the pillows, while Chara-Ani doesn’t.

So the majority of authentic dakimakura covers and pillows that you can find would probably be 150cm in length, not 160cm.

Oh and shelf prices are 8-9k yen for COSPA, and 10k yen for Chara-Ani/Movic, before tax. 12k yen dakimakura covers are usually by smaller manufacturers, and usually feature original characters.

COSPA releases a majority of lower quality dakimakura covers, this is a post about high quality dakimakura, sorry. And the point is made they’re both about the same footage. I guess use of the word “authentic” gives some confusion however.

Edit: I have dakimakura from GA and Dengeki magazines and they’re both 160CM height, you need to reevaluate your top secret research.

Uh, and how many GA and Dengeki dakimakura covers are there released in a year? At the very most, 12 for each? Between March 2013 and March 2014, COSPA has released/is releasing 43 different dakimakura covers. In comparison, Chara-Ani has released/is releasing 13 different dakimakura covers, for the period between January 2013 and January 2014. And of those, 9 are reproductions of older Strike Witches designs. Oh and BROCCOLI has 6 for the period between January 2013 and January 2014, and they are also 150cm in length. So I think I can say that research proves that most ‘authentic’ dakimakura covers are 150cm in length, not 160cm. I think that this is further supported by the fact that Chara-Ani doesn’t seemed to have reproduced their 160cm long pillow in a long time, whereas COSPA is has production runs every month since June-ish.

Considering COSPA as of lesser quality is something I generally agree, Chara-Ani’s tend to have better prints, but some of the magazine tokuten dakimakura covers aren’t very good either.

I have arround 10 covers myself, and before I bought my first one I was unsure what is the best (material wise).

So I tried out diffent types and my result is quite different from what I expected:

I personaly find the 2 way “to elastic” and they get damaged very easily if you sleep with them and you have not very smooth hands.
I also got “Peach Skin” wich is really cheap (arround 2-4k yen) and I was quite sceptical, but after I tried PS out, I was really pleased.
It feels really nice, and is very durable. Also it’s not so elastic like 2way wich keeps the pillow in a better shape.

And in addition from what i’ve seen so far, the color on PeachSkin covers is much better, 2way tends to get kinda blury, but Peach Skin is cristal clear and fresh colors.

My conclusion:
If you like 2way, Peach Skin, Japanese Textile or what ever, it’s a personal taste.
And I think its not right to praise 2way to much, cause it also has flaws.

Your conclusion is pretty off because it depends on what you use your dakimakura for, I don’t think most of us actually sleep with our dakimakura. Peach skin is cheap because most of those are fake. It’s hard to say much else in response because I don’t know what dakimakura you’re talking about.

You have right, it depends on the use of the Cover, and it was not my intention to criticize your post, it’s just my opinion.

I have a lot of stuff, and most of it is to valuable for me I wouldn’t dare to use it (like some special towels from price contest etc.)
And this is what you wrote, you want to keep the value of the cover, so you will not use it (at least so I interpret your post).

This is totaly fine with me, I think mostly the same way.
But I own so much stuff “I don’t touch/use”, I decided to buy the Dakimakura to use.
This differs the Dakimakura to the rest of my collection.

I admit that I don’t know if the covers I own are “real” or “fake”.
The reason for this, I only collect Items from 2 specific types (Idolm@ster / Vocaloid), and there are sooo less good covers out there, that I bought every single I liked.
Price dosn’t matter to me, I checked like 6 or more Sites that sales covers and 4 Auction sides (all japanese) but I wasn’t able to find pretty much.

I even own some 2 or 3 times, just in case if one gets damaged I have backup.
I also re-bougth some, just because I wanted all my covers in PS.

You are correct. My comment was just to point out because you did not specify that it depends on the cover, so some people may read your comment and think tricot is no good.

The iDOLM@STER and Hatsune Miku have little to no official dakimakura, I saw your video and those are fake, or at least not genuine licensed dakimakura. But as long as you’re satisfied, doesn’t really matter.

Well I mostly agree, especially with the artwork used for the covers and such. But only buy to hang them up the wall? Sounds pretty boring for me since the covers are mostly made for an practical use with a pillow. Of course I can understand it if you have rare ones from magazines and such, since I have also stuff like these just to keep them safe. But for hanging them up I could just buy an high quality custom made big poster of it and would have the same effect. Then it also would have the “rare effect” since such stuff doesn’t have anyone.
If somebody never used it I can only recommend it! It’s an great experience. If you only have rare ones then you can just buy other covers from your waifu and use them instead of the rare ones, or just buy more copys of it. Price mostly isn’t the big issue for “real” otaku. Even if you only have fake ones it’s fine, since mostly the quality gap really isn’t that big (Also depends where you buy). Mostly you just pay only for the name of the manufacturer like with other big brands. The ‘fake’ ones or like I would say, the cheaper covers do the same and it doesn’t drain the wallet too much. There are also many good low price covers out there with the same official artwork from an high quality brand and also with good material. It doesn’t really need to be an official one, just buy the one you prefer even if it’s just because of the price.
For the material I say it’s just personal preference. 2 way is good and the best out there, but personaly I like japanese textile for example more since the cloth is thicker and not too smooth. Also the pillow is a bit loose because 2 way tend to stretch too much. But I doesn’t say it’s bad! I also like it, just japanese textile more^^ Just buy some other materials and test it for yourself!
I also agree with Pai that the colours of peach skin covers are better printed. Because of the material the colours are way more colourful since these are thicker and smoother. For display I would recommend peach skin covers if you want to hang them up!
Well that’s just my personal opinion about this topic. Every otaku also have other lifestyles and attitudes to different things, but that’s good. That’s what make us different and unique^^

“I could just buy an high quality custom made big poster of it and would have the same effect.”

You don’t own a real dakimakura apparently, either that or your reading comprehension failed in the course of this article.

Most of the people doing recommendations in the comments section seem to only have the fraudulent peach skin ones or magazine extras, in which case, just stop commenting please. If you enjoy what you have, great for you, but this article is recommending high quality real genuine dakimakura, not some garbage made in some Chinese guy’s basement.

Admin-san encouraging people to stop contributing their opinions, what do you think’s going to happen? The user here seems to understand where they stand in terms of what they own, but at the end of the day, the value of art is on a very individual basis. Like the saying “one’s trash is another’s treasure.”

This guy was doing nothing wrong, there’s no need to ridicule him so much.

—

” If hoping to truly use a dakimakura as a pillow, one of these magazine extras make a great option as they’re cheap and more so expendable, but never will they compare with the real deal.”

“… but this article is recommending high quality real genuine dakimakura, not some garbage made in some Chinese guy’s basement.”

You and those people don’t seem to understand that “your opinions” are not relevant to the subject of the article.

I’m not planning to make a big debate about this, you should know better yourself, though you’re probably defending him too cause you’re victim of the cheap Chinese dakimakura.

My point is don’t come here exclusively recommending your peach skin eBay dakimakura because those are not what this article is about. If you have real experience with a real dakimakura and then some peach skin something or whatever, then compare, recommend, and say all you like.

However, if those fake ones, or similar lesser quality, are all you’ve had, then it’s likely you can’t even recognize what a genuine dakimakura is to begin with, you’re still suffering from the misconception mentioned in this article and your opinion isn’t worth much anything.

“I can have an opinion that you’re handsome or ugly, but it makes no sense to have an opinion that you are six feet tall. That’s something that can be measured. If somebody measures you, but I give a different height and call it my opinion, I’d be misunderstanding the very notion of what an opinion is. Opinions are good to have for subjective matters, not objective ones.”

This is why I would like a dakimakura of a particular bishoujo I admire, but I have yet to obtain such a masterpiece because (1) I have yet to find one of her which would exemplify her beauty, and (2) I do not have the resources to obtain such.

Great article, it reminded me why I have a dakimakura and just how great it is to be able to hug one’s love every evening. Even if my Tsukiko has meant I’ve taken too many afternoon naps.

I have the Tsukiko dakimakura from Movic (which has been covered on this site). The pyjamas side is so snuggly combined with the two-way tricot. I just wish I had the sukumizu Tsukiko dakimakura illustrated by Kantoku, which the cheapest I’ve seen is 28,000 yen.

I was disappointed by the Cospa Tsukiko. Unlike the Movic one, which looks faithful to the anime art style, or the Kantoku illustrated one, it looks like neither art style.

I don’t own one, but I’m very impressed by the Yurippe one.
Serious question, why are they even in the form of pillow covers if otaku end up just hanging them on their walls? Why not produce the same image retaining the exact same dimensions, quality, and other features, just on material meant for decorative purposes?

I can only make a guess. On a business point of view it’s better having it only in Dakimakura form than in posters, economically speaking. I find the Otaku market to be incredibly complex as someone not really familiar with it. I can make an explanation to you but since I can’t guarantee it I don’t feel like bothering

I didn’t reply to this Anonymous guy either because I don’t feel like bothering. The question he’s asking is inherently a bad one. May as well ask why do they make manga if you just end up watching the anime. But that said, the question is understandable from someone who doesn’t have a dakimakura as they don’t know what one is like.

“Serious question, why are they even in the form of pillow covers if otaku end up just hanging them on their walls?”

You can hang them on your walls, or do whatever else you want with them.

“Why not produce the same image retaining the exact same dimensions, quality, and other features, just on material meant for decorative purposes?”

You’re suggesting the high quality, soft, durable wrinkle-proof cloth is not suitable for decorative purposes?

Those are practical reasons for the consumers and actually you and Anonymous are both correct. Anonymous here simply want the art and doesn’t care much on the novelty while from what I see, you like Dakimakuras because they are special which I agree, they are indeed.

However if I would make a guess, this being based on people saying that Anime is niche and people who actually buy anime goods are more niche, Dakimakura is more likely to be bought because of its value (hug pillow + art + rare because cannot be mass produced) while posters has less value because it only has art and the fact that it can be mass produced greatly lowers its value. They can earn higher profits with these things even if they produce few of it while posters are less likely to be bought and less profits can be earned.

As for the manga and anime thing, they’re definitely practical reasons but certainly they are different markets. People can have different reasons for choosing which they want.

Anyways don’t mind me that much, I’m currently a business student and I’m testing myself if I actually learned something. Still Otaku market is odd since weird incidents like buying 10k of the same cds or buying movie clips is popular.

“They can earn higher profits with these things even if they produce few of it while posters are less likely to be bought and less profits can be earned.”

Even if you say that, the comparison still feels inherently incorrect. There are plenty of posters, they’re just stuffed in magazines or something, what would be the point of a 10,000 yen poster made of cloth? They already have stuff like those by the way, they’re called tapestries.

Hmm, well you can’t hug a poster covered pillow because that doesn’t sound comfortable. I’m not sure about tapestry… So far I don’t see anyone inventing an anime pillow tapestries so there’s no market for it yet. Dakimakura seems to be valued because anime tapestry pillow is not yet an alternative. The fact that it is a hug pillow makes it unique, it just happened that you can hang it as well. In fact if you can hang and hug it at your choice then it’s like killing two birds in one stone (though the idea sounds far fetched I’m sure you get the point) makes it sound like a sweet deal similar to when other products has more features combined in one

Posters however can be an alternative to hanged tapestries or vice versa but cannot be used as pillow covers which separates their market. Which in this case, its up to the buyer if he want to hug something and/or hang something

So back to the point. It’s profitable because it’s unique and has higher demand. Posters or tapestries has less demand or at least because you can easily find alternatives (either in art or price or “features” if that exist haha).

Uh yeah I’m confused because you highlighted profits and mentioned tapestries and just went with that.

Well to try to answer his question without the blahblah I just posted above: I don’t know, I wonder myself. Even if I had one I still don’t know. Sounds philosophical to me, I hang it because that’s what I want? It ruins basic logic

True, it’s a separate product. It would be called “Expensive Poster”. Something like how expensive bags like Louis Vuitton is. Price can be a market as well because it shows that you can actually buy it.

But I don’t know, it sounds absurd when you put the same logic in posters. Maybe because it’s not yet considered “normal” today

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